Chief Executive’s Update March 20th

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and EveryDay Care

Here at Age UK North Tyneside and EveryDay Care we would like to reassure families, friends and supporters that we continue to monitor the situation and follow the latest published advice in relation to COVID-19.

Further to advice received from central government on the 16th March 2020, that everyone in the UK should avoid “non-essential” travel and contact with others we know that many older people and their families or carers will be concerned about the coronavirus and its impact as we all go about our daily lives.

Essential Measures

We have put a range of measures in place to protect our customers, staff and volunteers working with older people, with a primary focus on enabling us to continue to provide essential front line services and our teams are working exceptionally hard to do so.

Care Provision

Taking into account the wellbeing of our older residents within the wider community and the positive impact of social interaction, care and support within our Extra Care Housing Schemes and in the community continues uninterrupted. We have reviewed our visiting and hygiene policies to ensure that any risk of transmission is minimised and are committed to ensuring that essential services are not compromised.

Our Wellbeing Centresin North Shields, Wallsend and Killingworth remain open. We have also made alternative arrangements to ensure customers who cannot attend continue to receive the assessed support needed to remain at home safely.

A hot meal and shopping delivery service will be introduced as an interim measure for those that have little or no support network and are following self-isolating guidelines. We are also putting together some guidelines around staying safe at home and safeguarding each other from potential scams.

Age UK North Tyneside Chief Executive, Dawn McNally said: “We continue to urge people to follow national Government guidance to prevent further spread of the illness and limit the numbers affected. Alongside North Tyneside Council and our health partners, we are working to ensure the health and social care system is prepared to respond to all eventualities and that people receive the essential care and support services they need.”

We are also working with local business to highlight the needs of older people and their carers to understand the needs of older people living in the borough by encouraging them to introduce measures like limited shopping times to allow people to get much needed supplies before stocks become depleted.

Corporates and individuals wishing to financially support this free service in North Tyneside can make contact with our Customer Service Team. Donations at this time will be hugely important and will enable us to provide this service for the most vulnerable in our community.

The situation regarding COVID-19 is changing on a daily basis, therefore we will provide updates through our social media channels and the news section on our website or for more information or advice please contact our customer service team on 0191 2808484 (option 1).